Australian DVB-T Retune (3 Viewers)

[elliottmc]

As noted before, if someone can find the time to update the files, this would be great as we can include them in the next release.

I am sure it doesn't need pointing out, but the team are all volunteers and no-one gets paid for this, so we do need the community to help in many areas.

 

[noonereallycares]

After a bit of fiddling with Excel, a whole bunch of regular expressions, and a lot of linux scripting..... I have created XML files for the ~ 600 regions that are defined in the spreadsheet that I posted earlier. I can't vouch for the accuracy of anything other than the one for Melbourne (where I live).

I have only included the post-retune frequencies. The downside is that not all areas have started the retune. Until then, the old frequencies are still in use. In some areas, there will be a period of overlap where the XML file would need to contain the new frequency AFTER the old frequency to avoid rescans replacing new with old during a period of simulcast.

As a backup, I have attached an XML file which contains all pre and post retune frequencies and should be used as a last resort. This should work for every region and the only downside is that it will find both frequencies during a period of simulcast and tuning will need to be repeated after the old signal is turned off to remove any problems caused by the old frequency replacing the new frequency.

I have attached the bash script that I used to create the files. If there is any error, I apologise and offer the fact that it is almost 2 AM as an excuse.

 

[Mavidica]

Thanks for that noonereallycares. All the instructions above are spot on. Turns out there's some kind of central antenna tuner or amplifier in my high-rise building that needed re-tuning. Everyone was having the same problem, I was just the first to report it. All fixed now, but there's a message for other punters out there that if you're in some kind of apartment building and can't re-tune, it may not be you, but the building, so check if anyone else is having the same problem.

My only remaining issue is that the guide is not re-populating. I seem to recall there's something I need to do to restart or reset the FTA guide after re-tuning....[DOUBLEPOST=1395307773][/DOUBLEPOST]Further to above - I just needed to re-check all the channels in the TV-EPG setup. They had become unchecked in the re-tune. All good now, thanks again

 

[noonereallycares]

Turns out there's some kind of central antenna tuner or amplifier in my high-rise building that needed re-tuning.

You're not the first person to suffer that. I had a client who it still trying to get his building setup fixed. The problem with it only impacting SBS in most capital cities is that many people are less likely to notice or care. There is no advantage in have a three month period where the old and new frequencies are both active if nobody notices the change until AFTER they turn off the old one. And because the old frequency is often higher than the new one, systems like MP risk overwriting the good channel data with the bad channel data.

 

[the1]

Thanks guys this helped me out too!

 

[elliottmc]

After a bit of fiddling with Excel, a whole bunch of regular expressions, and a lot of linux scripting..... I have created XML files for the ~ 600 regions that are defined in the spreadsheet that I posted earlier. I can't vouch for the accuracy of anything other than the one for Melbourne (where I live).

I have only included the post-retune frequencies. The downside is that not all areas have started the retune. Until then, the old frequencies are still in use. In some areas, there will be a period of overlap where the XML file would need to contain the new frequency AFTER the old frequency to avoid rescans replacing new with old during a period of simulcast.

As a backup, I have attached an XML file which contains all pre and post retune frequencies and should be used as a last resort. This should work for every region and the only downside is that it will find both frequencies during a period of simulcast and tuning will need to be repeated after the old signal is turned off to remove any problems caused by the old frequency replacing the new frequency.

I have attached the bash script that I used to create the files. If there is any error, I apologise and offer the fact that it is almost 2 AM as an excuse.

@HomeY - just noticed this. Who can add it to the release?

 

[noonereallycares]

Who can add it to the release?

Apart from the time taken to scan channels, is there any major advantage to having the city/state breakdown for Australia? We have very few frequencies and it may be simpler to maintain a single "Australia" list rather than having to update all the smaller groups. With the migration having been completed a couple of months ago, it should be possible to simply use the "All Regions" version that I posted earlier and it will simply fail to find a signal on frequencies that are not active in the user's region.

 

[HomeY]

@HomeY - just noticed this. Who can add it to the release?

If only the Australia.Australia_-_All_Regions_Safe.xml needs to be added to DVBT for Australia, then i can do it.

@noonereallycares Only adding the above .xml to DVBT tuning parameters is sufficient for now (since you states that not all areas have started the retune)? Or should all individual DVBT files be added?

 

[noonereallycares]

Unfortunately, the spreadsheet with the list of details has now been removed from the website that was hosting it. According to the documentation I can find, the 'retune' was completed at the end of 2013. The only reason nobody noticed was because the old frequencies were kept active for 3 months in many major cities.

The "All Regions" XML file that I posted earlier should have every frequency that could possibly be active in Australia. The only risk I can see is if someone happens to break the law and start transmitting on one of the old frequencies. Otherwise, the only downside is that having the old frequencies in there is that inactive frequencies will be scanned during the scanning precess.and result in failure messages being displayed.

I don't have a list of the channels that have been removed, so am unable to clean up the XML files to remove the inactive frequencies.

http://vk3khb.gak.net.au/tv_lists/f_tv_lists.html

This website still lists all the channels, but my brain starts to get fried if I look at it too long.

 

[HomeY]

The "All Regions" XML file that I posted earlier should have every frequency that could possibly be active in Australia.

So if we add Australia.Australia_-_All_Regions_Safe.xml and leave all current available tuning details in place, we are good?